Networking Guide

Xmod-ify Your Home Entertainment

Xmod-ify Your Home Entertainment

We have seen the Xmod from Creative a while back and although it worked to improve audio experience as advertised, we weren't entirely convinced of its ‘better then studio quality' claims. It [Creative Xmod] may have the qualities to satisfy casual music lovers but Creative didn't just stop there. Going a step further is the new Xmod Wireless Music System, the latest product to bear the Creative stamp that's designed to install convenience into home entertainment no less.

Sizing it Up

The Xmod Wireless Music System comprises of a transmitter and a receiver unit, each clearly labeled of its purpose, which is just as well given it is virtually impossible to tell which is which with just a quick glance. Both have a large volume dial finished with a blue glowing ring with the dial also acting as a power button. Below that are the forward, rewind and play/pause buttons. Thanks to its wireless technology, long and messy cables are nowhere to be found within the package.

Creative Compatibility

With everything provided, setting up the Wireless Music System from Creative was straight forward enough. We plugged the transmitter into our laptop with the bundled USB cable and settled the receiver unit in another room. We then connected the receiver unit to a set of speakers using 3.5mm-to-RCA audio cables (RCA on device, 3.5mm to speakers), fired up the music and enjoyed the painless wireless technology at work.

Both iTunes and Windows Media Player 10 worked fine as an audio source but we were most buoyed by the fact that Creative had really done their homework with the Xmod Wireless Music system.

The entire setup process was a simple matter of following illustrations and that was that. No messy cables to deal with and no drivers to be installed. Music quality was outstanding as expected. We did not hear any noise or hisses, a result we quickly attributed to the onboard X-Fi Crystalizer technology, which Creative claims to restore details and fidelity to music and movies. We were glad to discover that the presence of Bluetooth devices and mobile phones was not an issue to the transmission performance of the Xmod Wireless Music system.

An interesting point we noted about the system was that the transmitter remote had more buttons than the receiver remote. Turns out, these extra buttons are for users to broadcast music on all receivers individually.

Our Thoughts

For its utter simplicity, it's easy for anyone to brush off the Creative Xmod Wireless Music system as just another audio accessory. However, credits to Creative, we think they do have a strong proposition to sell. The Creative Xmod Wireless Music system lets you install music counters anywhere in your home in very much the same way as how wireless routers let you enjoy wireless Internet. Furthermore, the X-Fi Xmod chip within does enhance sound quality. It can also be the wireless answer for those who have been looking high and low for a way for an affordable solution for wireless rear speakers in their multi-channel home theatre systems.

The Creative Xmod Wireless Music system is priced at $241 (~S$369) with additional receivers going at $104 (~S$159) each – not too expensive we say.